Safety razor



Nov. 24, 1936. N, 113511 2,061,720

SAFETY RAZOR Filed 001;. 31, 1935 ggam 1 W Patented Nov. 24, 1936 UNITEDSTATES PATENT OFFICE SAFETY RAZOR Application October 31,

16 Claims.

This invention relates to safety razors of the type in which a thinflexible blade is clamped in position for shaving between twoblade-clamping members, such as a cap and guard. The invention consistsin a novel razor of this type organized and adapted to receive a bladepresented transversely or in position crosswise of the cap and guard,and in which the blade is swung into longitudinal or shaving position bythe usual operations of clamping the cap and guard thereon. A razor ofthis character presents many advantages in construction and operation.In the first place, it eliminates the necessity for loose parts whichmay be lost or mislaid in taking 7 the razor apart to remove or replacea blade, and permits the cap and guard to be permanently securedtogether, so long as a limited separation is allowed sufficient toreceive the blade in fiat condition. In the second place, the user isrelieved of the necessity of locating the blade in shaving positionsince he has only to insert it between the cap and guard and then relyupon a mechanical positioning of the blade through the normal operationof the clamping mechanism. Further arazor organized as above outlined isadapted for use in combination with a magazine loader which may betemporarily engaged with the razor and operated to supply a bladetransversely between the cap and guard, and thus the user is relieved ofthe necessity of in any way touching the sharp blade or impairing thekeenness of its edge by accidental contact 'With dulling objects.

These and other features of the invention will be best understood andappreciated from the following description of a preferred embodimentthereof, selected for purposes of illustration and shown in theaccompanying drawing, in which,-

Fig. 1 is a view of the razor in side elevation with a portion of thehandle shown in crosssection;

Fig. 2 is a View of the head of the razor in side elevation,'showing thecap and guard in bladereceiving relation;

Fig. 3 is a View of the razor in longitudinal cross-section;

Fig. 4 is a View of the razor as seen from the top, a portion of the capbeing shown as broken away;

Fig. 5 is a view of the razor head in longitudinal section, showing thecap in the position 1933, Serial No. 696,054 r Fig. '7 is a View inperspective of the bladeswinging and clamping spindle;

Fig. 8 is a plan view of one form of blade adapted for use with therazor illustrated, showing the blade-swinging key in cross-section; and5 Fig. 9 is a plan view of the cap as seen from beneath.

The cap or blade backing member I0 is rectangular in outline andprovided with an inner concave blade-engaging face. It has also thinpar- 10 allel edges which are adapted to flex the blade over the face ofthe guard and maintain it for shaving in a position of pronouncedtransverse curvature. The cap is provided at each corner with adownwardly extending hooked corner lug 15 H or [2. The lugs H, ondiagonally opposite corners of the cap, are thickened and serve aslimiting stops for the blade as will presently be explained. The lugs I2on the other two corners of the cap are thinner and are located outside20 the rotary path. of movement of the blade. All four lugs are extendedbeneath the guard so as to prevent separation of the cap and guard whilepermitting a limited relative movement of separation between the two.The cap is also provided 25 with spaced blade-locating pins I 4 and witha central recess or slot l3 of keyhole outline, best shown in Fig. 9,disposed transversely of the cap and surrounded by circular countersunkshoulders.

The guard IB which cooperates with the cap is provided with a pair ofparallel shoulders, making a generally convex blade-engaging surface,and with guard teeth 19 at either longitudinal edge thereof. It isprovided also with spaced recesses 20 located in alignment with theblade-locating pins l4 and with a central recess 2| shaped to receivethe ears of the key 21. The cap and the guard cooperate to flex theblade and support it adjacent to its cutting edges when clamped inshaving relation.

The guard 1'8 is herein shown as formed integral with a tubular head 22which forms a part of the handle of the razor. This is shouldered at itslower end to receive a hollow barrel 23. Arranged to slide within thebore of the tubular head 22 is a cylindrical head or plunger 25 from theupper end of which projects a stem 26 carrying a flat key 2'! havingoutwardly projecting ears at its upper end. The key 21 is proportionedto pass through the keyhole slot l3 of the cap and, when turned into aposition parallel to its longitudinal axis, the ears positively engagethe countersunkshoulders of the cap. The movement of the cylindricalhead 25 is controlled, ex-

cept when there is a blade in the razor, by a U-shaped slot 28 thereinwhich cooperates with a pin 29 projecting inwardly from the barrel ofthe handle. Below the head 25 is a threaded cylindrical stem 30 andbelow this is a long reduced shank 3i terminating in a riveted button. Along cylindrical nut 33, referred to as an operating device, is freelymounted within the barrel 23 of the handle. The threaded stem 30 fitswithin the upper end of the nut 33 which is resilient in character,being provided with longitudinal slots 36 for this purpose. The nut isprovided with a reduced intermediate section and at its lower end with acylindrical knurled head for the convenience of the user in turning thenut. The cylindrical nut has a longitudinal bore in which is receivedthe elongated shank 3| of the head 25, and the button of this shank isreceived in a recess provided therefor in the end of the head 35.

The nut 33 may be screwed up or down upon the threaded stern Bil so longas the end of the shank 3| extends freely into the recess in the head35, but when this movement is exhausted and the button bottoms in itsrecess, the nut 33 and the head 25 turn as one piece if permitted to doso by the key 27 and slot 28. Also, while the key 2? is disposedtransversely, as shown in Fig. 6, the nut 33 and head 25 may be slippedfreely up and down in the handle of the razor an amount equal to thedistance between the lower end of the barrel 23 and the upper end of thehead 35. This is sufiicient to carry the ears of the key 21 intoposition above the countersunk shoulders of the cap H3. The nut 33 andhead 25 may also be turned 90 as a unit when the pin 29 occupies aposition in the transverse part of the U-shaped slot 28.

The razor herein shown is adapted for use with thin flexibledouble-edged blades of wellknown commercial type. A blade 40 of suchtype is shown in Fig. 8. It is provided with an elongated blade-locatingslot 4|, substantially as long as its cutting edge, and is recessed ineach corner, thus defining elongated unsharpened end portions in theblade. The slot 4| is provided with spaced enlargements to receiveblade-locating pins of corresponding shape and with a centralenlargement of circular outline. The key 2? and its stem 25 are shapedto fit the central enlargement and flll the slot 4|. The thickenedcorner lugs H are so disposed as to engage the unsharpened end portionsof the blade and act as stops when the latter has been locatedconcentric with the axis of the stem 26 and rotated about this axisbetween the cap and guard members of the razor.

When no blade is in the razor the key 21, the head 25 and the nut 33,acting as one piece, occupy their lowermost position in which the earsof the key 2? are received in the recess 2| of the guard and the pin 29occupies a position near the upper end of one side of the slot 28 in thehead 25. In this condition the cap I!) is held in place only by the hooklug H and 2, so that it may be readily lifted from the guard l8 topermit the introduction of a blade crosswise between the cap and guardmembers. The blade may be thus supplied either by hand or by a loadingdevice and advanced transversely of the razor until it reaches a centralposition as shown in Fig. 4, that is to say until it is locatedsymmetrically in the razor. The upper edge of the key 21 projectsslightly above the bottom of the guard l8 so that it may enter the slot4| of the blade and center the latter during its movement ofpresentation. As soon as the end of the blade 40 has been introducedbetween the cap and the guard, the blade will serve to hold the capresiliently away from the guard as indicated, for example in Fig. 2 ofthe drawing. When the blade has been presented and centered the head 35is pushed upwardly and the key carried up through the slot of the bladeand the keyhole slot l3 of the cap until its ears clear the countersunkshoulders of the cap. In this position the flat body of the key fillsthe slot of the blade as indicated in Fig. 8. The head 35 may now beturned through 90 and the blade 40 rotated with it from the crosswiseposition shown in Figs. 2 and 4 to the longitudinally disposed positionshown in Fig. 5. This, as already explained, is determined by theengagement of the end portions of the blade with the stop lugs |2 of thecap. Rotary movement of the blade and the key is thus arrested with theears of the key in interlocking relation with the cap Ill. Furtherturning in the same direction of the head 35 at once becomes eifectiveto screw the threaded stem 30 downwardly into the nut 33, thus, throughthe ears of the key, drawing the cap |0 downwardly into clampingengagement upon the blade. The parts of the razor are shown in Fig. 5 inthe position they occupy at the end of this movement. The clampingmovement continues until the cap has been drawn tightly down upon theblade, flexing it transversely and finally clamping all the parts inshaving relation, as indicated in Fig. 1.

There is sufiicient clearance in the horizontal portion of the slot 28to permit the shoulders of the blade 40 to be brought into firmengagement with the stop lugs H of the guard before the pin 29 in theslot limits the rotary movement of the head 25. If no blade is in therazor the pin 29 becomes effective to prevent further movement of thehead.

It will be noted that so long as the blade 40 is in engagement with theedges of the cap H] the latter is held away from the guard to such anextent that the blade-locating pins l4 do not engage the blade. It isonly after the blade has been swung into its longitudinal position andthe cap allowed to approach the guard that the pins I4 enter the slot 4|of the blade.

When it is desired to remove the. blade for cleaning or replacement thehead 35 is rotated in the reverse direction. The head 25 at first isprevented from rotation on account of the engagement of the flexed bladewith the pins 4 and the engagement of the key 2i with the bladeaccordingly, as the threaded stem 30 is turned it is screwed upwardlyand out on the nut 33 until the cap has been lifted sufiiciently todisengage the pins from the blade. When this occurs the stem 30 is freeto turn with the nut 33 and the blade is swung through 90 into its crosswise position where it is arrested by the action of the pin 29 in theslot 28. The key 21 may now be allowed to drop through the blade intoits recess in the guard leaving the blade free to be withdrawntransversely from between the cap and guard members.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:-

1. A safety razor having elongated cap and guard members connected forlimited separating movement, whereby a blade may be presented endwiseand transversely between them, and

means located at all times in the razor for engaging and swinging intolongitudinal position with respect to the cap and guard members a bladeso presented.

2. A safety razor having cooperating bladeclamping members connected fora limited movement of separation, whereby a blade may be presentedcrosswise between them, and means operating first to swing said blade 90into 1ongitudinal position with respect to the bladeclamping members andthen operating to draw the clamping members into blade-flexing relation.

3. A safety razor having cooperating bladeclamping members connected fora limited movement of separation to receive an interposed bladepresented endwise in transverse position between them, a blade stop onone of said members, an operating device and mechanism actuated therebyfirst to swing the blade until the latter is positively arrested by saidstop and then to draw said members into blade-flexing relation.

1. A safety razor having cooperating bladeclamping members, connectingmeans for maintaining said members in spaced superposed relation toreceive a blade presented transversely between them, a blade stop, andoperating means including a blade swinging device and threaded elementsfrictionally connected thereto and arranged to be brought into operationwhen the blade is arrested by engagement with the blade stop to drawsaid blade-clamping members toward each other.

5. A safety razor having cooperating bladeclamping members, connectingmeans for maintaining said members in spaced relation to receive aslotted blade presented endwise and transversely between them, a key forengaging the slot of a blade so presented, operating means frictionallyconnected with said key, a blade stop acting to limit the turningmovement of the key by engaging the blade when its edge is moved intoshaving position, and threaded elements actuated thereafter by saidoperating means for drawing the blade-clamping members together.

6. A safety razor having cooperating bladeshaping members withcooperating curved faces, means for limiting said members to separationpermitting a thin, internally-apertured, flexible blade to be presentedendwise and'transversely therebetween in flat condition, blade-locatingprojections disposed out of the path of the presented blade, and meansfor swinging the blade, while the blade acts to hold apart saidbladeshaping members, to register its aperture with said blade-locatingprojections.

7. A safety razor having cooperating bladesupporting members permanentlyconnected in superposed relation and arranged to be spaced to receive anapertured blade presented transversely therebetween, and a handle havinga key arranged to slide longitudinally therein in registration with theaperture of the blade and being free to turn with the blade only when ithas been passed through one of said blade-supporting members.

8. A safety razor having cooperating bladeclamping members organized andadapted to receive a blade presented transversely in crosswise positionbetween them, and means for drawing said members into clamping relationhaving a blade-engaging portion constructed to engage and swing theblade about an axis perpendicular thereto into shaving position.

9. A safety razor having cap and guard members organized and adapted toreceive a blade presented transversely between them in crosswiseposition, blade-swinging means constructed and arranged to engage theblade as presented and swing it about an axis at right angles to theplane of its surface, clamping means for the cap and guard members, anda single operating device for actuating first one and then the other ofsaid means.

10. A safety razor having cooperating bladeclamping members constructedand arranged to receive a blade presented crosswise to the razor, and atubular handle having therein a nut and bolt equipped with ablade-swinging key arranged to slide longitudinally as a unit into andout of clamping engagement with one of said bladeclamping members.

11. A safety razor having cooperating bladeclamping members constructedand arranged to receive a blade presented crosswise to the razor, and ahollow handle having therein a nut and bolt equipped with ablade-swinging key arranged to turn as a unit into and out ofinterlocking engagement with one of said blade-clamping members.

12. A safety razor having cooperating bladeshapin g members looselyconnected to admit a blade presented endwise between them from one sideof the razor, and clamping means extending from one member to the otherarranged to drop down clear of the path of the blade and having ablade-engaging portion adapted to swing the blade into lengthwiseposition.

13. A safety razor having cooperating bladeengaging members looselyconnected to admit the end of an apertured blade presented crosswisefrom one side of the razor, and a blade-engaging element locatedinitially in one of said members and shaped to pass through the bladeaperture, said element having a blade-engaging face and a face adaptedto interlock with the other of said members after the element has beenlifted through the blade aperture and while acting to swing said bladeinto lengthwise position in the razor.

14. A safety razor having co-operating cap and guard members, means forholding them separated to receive a blade presented crosswise betweenthem, and means in the razor movable to engage the blade 'inmid-position as presented and mechanically turn it into shaving positionbetween the cap and guard.

15. A safety razor having co-operating blade clamping members, means forholding them spaced from each other to receive an internally aperturedblade presented crosswise to the razor, and a key acting to enter theaperture of the blade and arrest it in mid-position in the razor andthereafter to turn the blade into shaving position between said clampingmembers.

16. A safety razor having blade clamping members, means for centeringtherein a blade having a shoulder in its periphery, a blade stop in therazor, and means acting first to swing the blade to engage its shoulderagainst said stop and then to move the clamping members while the bladeis so held.

NICHOLAS TESTI.

